


And the Doctor Wept

by Ilovecastiel18



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Crying, Donna is there for the Doctor unlike practically any other companion, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feelings, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I love David Tennant, Loss, Men Crying, Rose and Martha cared about him but they acted like he was theirs and theirs alone, soft, the Doctor has feelings he needs a friend that isn't in love with him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-08-10 00:36:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20126452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilovecastiel18/pseuds/Ilovecastiel18
Summary: After the events of “The Doctor’s Daughter,” Donna asks the (Tenth) Doctor if he is alright, since he had lost so many people. She shows him that he’s not alone, and is there for him as he weeps about all the people he has lost. Hurt/Comfort, angst, friendship. One-Shot.





	And the Doctor Wept

**Author's Note:**

> I absolutely fucking love David Tennant. His Doctor is my favorite, so it’s pretty much a guarantee that any DW fanfiction I write will be about Ten. Anyway, Donna is an amazing human being and I felt like this conversation was something that should have happened. Please leave a review if you like it!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who. All characters, locations, etc. are the property of the BBC, Roger Davies, Steven Moffat, etc. etc. etc. Honestly, if I had worked on the show, I wouldn’t have let David Tennant leave after only three seasons.

……….

And the Doctor Wept

……….

_“Donna, I’ve been a father before.” The Doctor muttered as they walked down a musty metal corridor, trailing behind his new “daughter.”_

_Donna felt her heart skip a beat. He’d been a father before, past tense. Which meant…_

_“What?” she asked, hoping that what she thought wasn’t true._

_“Lost a long time ago. Along with everything else.” He whispered, looking down at the floor. Donna felt her heart break even more than it already had for her friend. After everything he had done for the Earth, for Gallifrey, for the entire _universe…_ he had lost everything he ever cared about. His family, his friends, Rose…_

_“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” Donna replied, fighting the urge to reach out and take his arm. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, keeping all accusatory tones out of her voice. “You talk all the time, but you don’t say anything…”_

_“I know.” He replied quickly, once again looking away._

_Donna wanted to ask about them, to reach out and help the Doctor with the grief he was clearly still carrying around with him. But, they were fighting against the clock, trying to save these people from themselves. _

_So, she relented. She let it go, hoping that she would get the chance to bring it up again._

……….

They had won the fight, but lost what mattered. They had forced the humans and the Hath to reconcile, had helped to make the planet habitable for the people they had saved, but…

Jenny had died. Jenny had died and the Doctor had lost one more person that he cared about.

They had just dropped Martha off back home, just left the earth to go to a new place and save different people, when Donna decided that she had to ask. She had to make sure the Doctor was alright.

“Doctor?” she muttered, watching as he manned the Tardis controls in a slower pace than usual.

He hummed to acknowledge that he was listening.

“Are you alright?” Donna asked quietly. She stood from where she had been leaning against the rail and moved over next to the Doctor.

He hummed again.

“It’s just… I know you lost your family, and Rose, and now you just lost Jenny. I just…” she started to say.

The Doctor cut her off. “I’m no stranger to loss, Donna. I’m used to it.” he muttered, refusing to look at her directly. He opted instead to continue working the controls of the Tardis even though Donna knew that he didn’t need to.

She could hear how hard he was struggling to reign in his emotions, despite how fiercely he was clearly trying to hide it. She could hear the tears in his voice, noticed the way that it was choked up behind the snappy words.

“Doctor, look at me.” She commanded quietly. She lightly touched his elbow to get him to turn toward her.

He sighed, but he turned, and Donna felt her heart break again when she saw the tears swimming in his eyes that he wouldn’t let fall.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry about everyone you’ve lost. You’re a good man, you don’t deserve all the tragedy that you’ve had to go through. But I want you to know that I’m here. I’ll always be here if you need to talk, or if you need a hug, or anything. I have the feeling that some of your other companions didn’t much care about you and your feelings, but I do.” She reached up and used her thumb to wipe away the tear that had fallen from the Doctor’s eye. “I do.”

……….

The Doctor had been having a bad day. Not only had he created Jenny (or, at least, Jenny had been created from him), he had been forcefully reminded of his family that he had lost. His children and wife that had died on Gallifrey, when he could do nothing about it.

Then, Jenny had died, had been shot and killed, and the Doctor was reminded even more forcefully of all the loss he had endured. Of losing his family and Rose, of having Martha leave him because she loved him but he couldn’t love her back. He was still in love with Rose, something that he would never be able to overcome.

Now, he and Donna had dropped Martha back off at home, and he was starting to fly the Tardis away to another world, to more people he needed to save, and Donna started talking.

“Doctor?” she muttered.

Refusing to use his voice, lest he reveal how close he was to breaking down and sobbing until he couldn’t sob anymore, the Doctor simply hummed to let her know that he was listening.

“Are you alright?” she asked, moving closer to him.

He hummed again, hoping she would leave it at that. Naturally, Donna being Donna, she didn’t.

“It’s just… I know you lost your family, and Rose, and now you just lost Jenny. I just…” she started to say, which was making it harder and harder for the Doctor to hold onto his emotions. He didn’t know what was coming over him. He was usually so good at keeping the important things close to his chest, why couldn’t he now?

“I’m no stranger to loss, Donna. I’m used to it.” he tried to snap, failing miserably when his voice wavered. He was half hoping she would eave him alone, but he was also hoping that maybe, just maybe, he had found a companion who would be there for him if he broke down. He felt like Donna would hold him while he wept, if it came to that.

“Doctor, look at me.” she muttered. The Doctor felt her touch his elbow lightly, and sighed. She wasn’t going to quit; he had no choice but to turn to her.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry about everyone you’ve lost.” Donna said, which made the Doctor almost lose it again. “You’re a good man, you don’t deserve all the tragedy that you’ve had to go through. But I want you to know that I’m here. I’ll always be here if you need to talk, or if you need a hug, or anything. I have the feeling that some of your other companions didn’t much care about you and your feelings, but I do.”

The Doctor felt a tear slip from his eye and trail down his cheek. Donna reached up and gently wiped it away with her thumb. “I do.” She whispered.

The Doctor couldn’t contain himself any longer. He felt more and more tears spilling from his eyes, and he was helpless to do anything. He reached up and frantically wiped at his face. Then a sob escaped him, and Donna was wrapping her arms around him, and there was nothing he could do to stop his tidal wave of emotions from crashing over him.

He buried his face in Donna’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around her waist. And the Doctor wept.

He cried for his family on Gallifrey, for their deaths that he couldn’t prevent, that he had been living with for hundreds of years.

He cried for Rose, because it was so _unfair _that she was trapped in the other world, away from him. He loved Donna, but he had been _in love _with Rose, and he had lost her like he had everybody else. Now she as trapped in a world that wasn’t her own, without him. And he was lost in her world without her, travelling around and helping people because that’s what they would have been doing if she was still here.

And he cried for Jenny, because it wasn’t fair that she had only lived for a few hours. It wasn’t fair that she had simply been created to fight in a war, and was murdered because she didn’t want to fight against the Hath. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair, _it wasn’t fair!_

It wasn’t fair that the Doctor had been forced to kill his own people. It wasn’t fair that he lost his family, lost all of his companions up until Donna. It wasn’t fair that he had been forced to face tragedy after tragedy after tragedy. He just wanted to travel and see the universe. And something always went wrong.

The Doctor wept for a long time, and Donna held on through it all. The shoulder of her shirt was soaked with his tears, and probably snot, and he was shaking so badly that he was sure that she felt like she was enduring an earthquake.

But, Donna held on, running her hands up and down his back and whispering soothing words in his ear. The Doctor found that he was so grateful for her that he could hardly put it into words.

When he was done crying, he straightened and hugged Donna again, pressing her into his chest. He tried to convey his thanks, his gratitude, how lucky he was to be her friend, all within that hug. And Donna returned it, eagerly, wrapping her arms tightly around his lower back and squeezing.

And then he let go, wiping away the tear tracks on his face. And the Doctor and Donna flew on, away from the Earth. Because the Doctor had lost many, _many _people, but he could save so many more.


End file.
